For the impressive Percat he appears unfazed by the massive amount of pressure there must be on his shoulders. He will get his last drive in preparation in tomorrow’s last practice session before Tander attempts to take the cherished Armor All Pole.

He will need to feats the same as a rookie in their first State of Origin game or an AFL Grand Final, with the hopes of his team and the hundreds of thousands of HRT fans resting on his shoulders.

“It’s pretty good to be around at the moment,” Percat said.

“Of course it’s hard, but who knows. Around here mentally you have to concentrate a lot more. It’s a lot more demanding and you have to be absolutely committed to every corner. I’m pretty comfortable over the top of the Mountain and just rolling on from Phillip Island.

“A few people have asked how you just show up at HRT and drive the car but I’ve been around Garth since 2007 and worked for the team for a year and a half. It’s not like I got the call randomly, I’ve worked very hard over the years to be here.”

Percat, not through his own doing, had the nightmare of stalling on the front row of the grid at the L&H500 at his very first start in the Championship a few weeks ago. As a result he had to start from pit lane and proceeded to complete on of the drives of the race.

“He proved at Phillip Island by starting from pit lane and getting to fourth,” Tander said.

“With everything that happened at the start it (at Phillip Island) would have been easy to lose you head and let it overwhelm him. As he proved he kept a straight head, drove the car really well and got us back in the race.

“I’ve been growing him for a few years now so he’s finally the right height.”

Tander has also had the experience of stalling on the grid but at the start of the race. He assures no problems come Sunday but the shootout needs to come first.

“The car is very, very comfortable across the top easily the best I have had here. It’s only Friday with the Shootout to go but it really is insignificant come midday Sunday when we are in the middle of a battle.

“We haven’t turned it into a wet weather car. It’s a dry car that we can tune backwards if we need to. We are in the hands of the Gods but comfortable both ways.”

Whincup somehow finished second in qualifying after sustaining serious damage in the final practice session when he slammed into a wall on the Mountain.

“Going hard, that’s all it was,” Whincup said “I should have got out of it. It was a big shunt. There has been plenty of times I’ve done some major damage and they’ve fixed it. All of our spare parts are set up perfectly to go straight in. It’s part of being in one of the best teams.”

Winterbottom was the best Ford in second, with Kelly Racing pair David Reynolds and Greg Murphy fourth and fifth.

The rest of the Shootout field tomorrow will be made up by Craig Lowndes, James Courtney, Lee Holdsworth, Shane van Gisbergen and Steve Owen.

Kelly Racing was the late surprise of the session, with Reynolds and Murphy jumping into the top five after the chequered flag fell.

Reynolds was the only driver able to join Tander, Winterbottom and Whincup in the 2:07s bracket – a remarkable effort after the Stratco Commodore required an engine change following issues in Practice 4 and 5.

Van Gisbergen’s threat for pole evaporated with a mistake on the entry to The Dipper on his final lap, moments before Jason Bargwanna crashed heavily at the same point of the circuit.